Cyberpunk :The Arasaka Contract
by Filani
Summary: This work is a prequel story to an excellent Java mobile game published by LemonQuest titled Cyberpunk :The Arasaka Plot which was released in 2006 and it follows the adventure of a cyborg soldier named Sam Gibson before the events of that game
1. PROLOGUE

Cyberpunk : The Arasaka Contract

PROLOGUE

The year is is the time of the 4th corporate war. Arasaka and Millitech , two giant worldwide Mega corps are engaged in a secret conflict that threatens to explode into all out warfare.

In this uncertain time, spies, mercenaries & dealers of all types make their fortunes working for the highest bidder.

My name is Gibson...Sam Gibson. I'm a full body cyborg soldier commonly known as a SOLO under covert contract to the Arasaka Corporation. I've been doing this so long I barely remember any other life before this one , hardly surprising since i also happen to have a bad case of what can best be described as ''selective amnesia'' .

You see as best as i can remember at one point in time i was a regular flesh & blood soldier fighting in the South America Cyberwars but then i got hurt bad on the field ...like at the point of death Bad. Then Arasaka agents pull me out of the battlefield straight to their hi-tech cybernetics lab where their doctors save my life by plugging me full of cybernetic implants, synthetic organs, tissue and cutting edge nanotechnology.

By the time they were done well over 95% of my original body had been either been replaced or altered and augmented and my memory was shot to hell but whether it was as a result of my wounds from the war or from the transformation procedure I'll probably never know. Anyways after that Arasaka set me up as one of their covert assets, with my military background it wasn't too hard for them to designate me as a SOLO.I carry out covert missions and activities that they can't afford to have traced back to them and in exchange they give me everything i need to maintain my new cybernetic body and a nice stack of credits in my account to boot.

Now for most people this would seem like a pretty sweet deal and in my case for a long time it was just that but sooner or later no matter how good the gravy train is, the shits gotta hit the fan someday. It all started just over a week ago when i took that last contract fom Arasaka.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Do cyborgs dream of electric sheep?

Sam Gibson's safe house

NightCity,2000 hrs

Darkness...it always begins in darkness ,then come the sounds ,muted and faraway at first then clearer, louder but it's the images that haunt him the most. Surroundings that are familiar and yet oddly unknown, sounds and voices from the past seeking recognition but none is found. The faces...oh god the faces ,dancing in and out of his view , men and women ,young and old ...some smiling while others are twisted in anger or pain.

''Oh god, who are you people? How do i know you? Where are you now? I don't know , i don't remember''.

The faces shimmer out of sight to be replaced by a single solitary figure...a man standing in the distance looking at Sam. The experience begins with darkness and it always ends with this man standing before him, looking at him with those eyes, those pale blue eyes.

Frustration wells up in Sams chest ,eager for release.

''Who the hell are you?''

The man does not answer, in all the times he had tormented Sam he never answered, he just looked at Sam with those damn eyes.

''Do you Know about my past?''

GIBSON!...

''If you know about my past then stop screwing around and just tell me!''

GIBSON!...

''Just tell me Goddamn you! ''

GIBSON!...

Sam sat up with a jolt, his hands reaching for his twin Arasaka handguns, synthetic adrenaline pulsing through eyes quickly took in his environment in the space of a few seconds.

''The safehouse...I'm at the safehouse''

Sam holstered the pistols and set his feet down from the bed, disconnected the wires from his cranial nodes and placed them beside the bioscan monitor on the deckstand.

''A dream , another damn dream''

In the old days Sam would never have thought full body cyborgs to be capable of dreaming and yet he couldn't think of a better word to describe what he had just experienced. Tonight would be the third time in as many weeks and there wasn't anything to say it would change anytime eyes made a cursory sweep of his safehouse lingering for a few seconds on familiar areas ; the crimson twilight filtering in through the window ,a munitions cachebox in a corner holding various weapons, attachments and ammo clips. The closet which held several change of clothes occupied the wall facing him and not too far from that was the door leading to the other rooms of the eyes finally came to rest on the deckstand and his com' unit which was flashing brightly in the near darkness of the room. Sam reached over to pick it up and place it to his ear. The com' units display screen showed the digital I.D of the person trying to reach him but Sam didn't bother to look because only one person in the world knew the digital I.D of his personal line.

''Kaena, i'm here...what's up?''

A husky but decidedly feminine voice responded on the other end of the line.

''Well it's about time you answered was actually starting to think i had called a wrong number! What took you so long?''

''Uhn...sorry about that. I just came out of sleep mode a few minutes ago, guess i just needed a little time to clear the cobwebs from the ol' clock...heh heh''

Kaena was silent on the other end of the line,Sam had not told her about the dreams(How could he?He had only just admitted to himself that they were dreams tonight!) but in his usual manner Sam had tried to deflect Kaena with an attempt at dry Kaena could see through his facade she did not give it away.

''Yeah...whatever! I called to remind you to drop by my place for the new fix i've been telling you about and the sparring session you promised me.''

Sams lips formed a smile, Kaena was giving Sam lessons on console hacking and data extraction but in return she asked (demanded more like) that Sam drill her in hand to hand combat. Sam had finally agreed to this bargain when Kaena argued that a chain was only as strong as its weakest link and that their partnership would be strengthened by an exchange of their skills. Sam would attain basic netrunner skills and Kaena would learn how to take on opponents twice her size.

''Right...Don't worry i'll be there like I promised.''

Another few seconds of silence from Kaenas' end of the line

''Gibson ...is everything ok?''

Translation; is there something wrong you're not telling me about?

''I'm perfectly fine. I'll see you in a little while ok?''

The lie came out smoothly enough. Sam was almost surprised at himself.

''Ok Gibson...Don't be late.''

The line went dead from Kaenas' end as she terminated the removed the com' unit from his ear, placing it back on the deckstand and got up off the bed.

Moping around in the safehouse wasn't going to do him any good ,just need to get out and walked over to the closet and picked out his biker jacket from a hanger, slipping it on quickly. Reaching into the jacket pockets he fished out his black gloves which he put on one after the other,his tactile sensors told him that the gloves fit snugly which was further confirmed by the straining sounds produced when he made his hands into a fist.

Sam moved over to the munitions cachebox and entered the unlock cachebox clicked open to allow Sam access to the rows of ammunition clips stored selected several clips for his twin Arasaka handguns, slipping them into the pockets of his combat trousers.

Satisfied that he was now adequately armed, Sam moved through the door into the next room which was almost empty except for a large full length mirror and another the deckstand Sam retrieved a roll of credit notes and his shadow account credit that used by most residents of nightcity ,Sams credit card would not be flagged by conventional E-security programs installed on a majority of Nightcitys credit card consoles, allowing him to access his shadow account funds without detection or trace but even with this advantage Sam refused to leave home without raw cash in his average citizen of nightcity might well be satisfied with paying for goods and services with a standard credit card but nothing motivates a streetkid to act first on your behalf and never ask questions or an underpaid corporate security gaurd to look the other way while you slip in through the back door of a guarded building to carry out a termination contract on an unsuspecting corporate boss like waving a hand full of credit notes in their faces.

Sam started walking towards the door but just before reaching the exit he passed the mirror and stopped dead in his tracks. The reflection that stared back at him was not his own but of that man, the one from his dreams.

The man stood there were Sams reflection ought to be and for the first time Sam could view him up close. He was the same height as Sam but with a smaller man was dressed for combat; Armour jacket, ammo clips hanging from his utility belt, combat trousers and face was oval shaped and looked young, maybe early twenties with ears close to the side of his head which was framed by smooth dark hair. His lips were closed in a straight emotionless line but his eyes glinted with an emotion that Sam could not quite identify.

Sam closed his eyes with a frown.

''Goddammit, what's happening to me!''

It was bad enough that he was having dreams after putting his cyberbody into sleep mode but now he was dreaming while on full active mode.

Sam slowly opened his eyes again and looked into the mirror however the man was gone; replaced by Sams own reflection.

''Dammit Gibson, pull yourself together!''

Sam took another quick look at the mirror before reaching the door and opening the lock to let himself out of the quickly past the dusty hallway and down a flight of steps, Sam passed through a darkened alleyway to a row of secure garages where one of Sams prize possessions was located his garage and entered the unlock code into the door which opened to reveal the single large object bathed in the glow from the fluorescent lights in the ceiling.

The Mitsubishi 2020 power bike was truly a thing of beauty and function; a two seater with power steering,metalic alloy body and an engine that pushed the bike from 0 to 100 mph in 10secs flat.

Sam settled himself into the seat and activated the engine which came to life with a low pitched kept the Mitsubishi finely tuned and the control display showed all systems were good to wheeled out into the alleyway, closing the garage door behind him and gunned the engine till the alleyway echoed with the sound of the metallic beast emerging from its lair into the cold night.

Sam looked out past the alley to the skyline of nightcity, the city coming to life against the backdrop of a crimson sunset.

''Ok Nightcity...ready or not, here i come.''

Sam cut loose on the engine and the Mitsubishi shot out of the alleyway like a bullet out of a gun barrel towards a major highway leading to the heart of the sprawling metropolis.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Running on the Edge.

Downtown District,NightCity

0700 Hrs, Earlier That day

Kaena Murphy's alarm clock had gone off at 5 am that morning and she had woken up with a stretching yawn; a consequence of putting in another late night surfing the Net.

Getting out of bed she padded over to the bathroom ,brushed her teeth and splashed her face with cold water from the faucet underneath the bathroom mopping off her face she looked at herself in the mirror,Kaena saw herself as an above average beautiful woman with reddish brown hair,straight nose,high cheekbones,soft full lips and striking blue this in addition to her athletic 5'6" frame got her a fair bit of attention walking down a busy street,Mainly the once over from men and jealous glances from other women but the few men who had decided to make a pass at her upclose had noted something else as cranial nodes and the microcircuitry veins that gave off a silver glow ,clear evidence of cybernetic implants.

The men usually lost intrest after seeing this, not that it bothered Kaena all too much, getting involved with someone who didn't run with the same crowd she did was as dangerous for her as it was for them due to one particular reason Kaena Murphy is a Netrunner.

Leaving the bathroom, Kaena slipped out of her nightwear into her exercise gear and grabbed a few protien bars from the fridge and started munching on didn't go for large breakfasts,doing her morning extreme running would be rather difficult if she did and speaking of which she'd better get moving.

Stepping out of her apartment, she made her way to the nearest hoverbus station and boarded the next one to her favorite startoff Kaena was standing on the rooftop of a highrise building that was 20 floors up from the streets had finished her deep breathing and stretching exercises now all that remained was for her to decide where she wanted the run to end.

"I think T9 should have my package ready by now and the cafe is a good place to pick up the latest info'." Kaena said,thinking out loud.

With that decision made, Kaena turned to the west then tensed her body like a coiled spring and took off in a running sprint towards the edge of the rooftop,building speed with each step until she vaulted into the air.

For a moment time seemed to stand still as the dual forces of Kaena's forward jump and the ever present law of gravity competed for control of her usual,the law of gravity won.

Kaena is falling...cartwheeling her arms and legs for maximum enough...Kaena lands on the opposite roof,bending her knees at the last moment to absorb the impact into a forward roll and then she's on her feet again,pumping her arms in leap of faith had kicked the andrenaline into her system,now she was gonna keep it there.

Kaena moves through her urban obstacle course over the rooftops, executing various maneuvers along the way.A 'tiger vault' over a low barrier,the running wall climb to the top of an inclined ceiling and then sliding down to the other side.

The final destination was in sight now and Kaena was digging in deep for the strength to make the last leap of her arms and legs for momentum, Kaena made the jump over to the last rooftop with a front flip and landed with a skidding halt.

Kaena rose to a standing position,breathing in precious muscle in her body ached with a dull throb but Kaena sucked it forged her mind but it was Extreme running that forged her body.

"No pain ,No Gain Kiddo."

That's what her mentor would've said if she were had been a little while since Kaena had allowed herself to think about her time as an apprentice under 'Spider' or about her time in the Orphanage and the NightCity streets after all seemed so surreal,like it all happend to somebody else and she was watching it on the news or reading it on the Net.

"Hey you! You daydreaming again?"

Kaena's thoughts snapped back to the present with a turned to see a middle aged man standing beside an open doorway of the Roof was fairly tall(Taller than her anyway) and dressed in a blue overall with all manner of tools and gadgets sticking out of the hard sole boots on and a red baseball cap pulled low,T9 cut the picture of a man who was handy with machines.

"It took you a whole five minutes longer to get here than it did last time 're getting slow darling." T9 said with a smile on his face that made him look younger than he really was.

"Hah! Says you old man." Kaena replied while partially zipping down the front of her exercise top to increase air circulation and further aid her body in cooling down.

"Old Man! I'll have you know that i'm still young enough to get busy with a pretty little lady like you darlin'." T9's eyes made a slow ,deliberate trail from Kaena's face down to her neck before resting on the soft swell of her cleavage.

"Eeww! I take it 're not just old,you're a dirty,sex crazed pervert!"

T9 broke out into a bout of laughter and Kaena joined him with smiles and giggles.

"How are you doing Ka'? You're here to collect the NetKit right?"

" it ready?"

"Sure is,I'll get it packaged for on down to the cafe and check back with me at the tech lab in a little still remember my access code right?"

"Yeah i do,i'll be right back."

Kaena and T9 both used the rooftop access way to exit the roof but while T9 ducked through another door to ready her package,Kaena proceeded to the NetConsole Cafe on the ground floor.

The Cafe was full of customers at thier various consoles surfing the Net,watching videos and chatting with thier friends waved to the the Cafe attendant who knew of her friendship with T9 then moved to an empty booth opposite two other customers that Kaena easily identified as Netrunners from thier cranial nodes,Micro circuitry veins and the subject of thier animated discussion.

"I'm telling you Trask it's the truth,they're making a new one."

"You're so full of shit the hell are you so sure?"

"Cuz another buddy of mine is friends with this chick that's banging an Arasaka Exec'.One night he gets really stoned an' starts running his mouth off about how the New Dreadnought Prototype is almost he's gonna make enough creds to buy her stuff to last a lifetime."

Despite the earnest tone of Buzz's voice,Trask remains skeptical.

"So let me get this straight,This buddy of yours gets his prime intel from some airhead hooker and you swallow it hook,line and sinker? Even if i believed you,what good is it to us? The Arasaka Corp databank is protected by top grade Black ICE ,ain't nobody but nobody gets past that kinda last time i heard of a runner messing with that, he ended up that how you wanna end up?"

Buzz absorbs his friends words with a deep sigh "Nah,i guess you're right but you have to admit a runner putting the specs for the new Dreadnought Prototype up for grabs would make one helluva payday."

"Take my advice Buzz,Keep your dayjob at the Mall and stay away from Arasaka Corp,you'll live longer that way in this on,let's go get a beer."

Trask and Buzz promptly make thier way out of the cafe leaving Kaena who has overheard thier conversation with quite a bit to think about.

Hmmm...it might be something and it might be nothing but i guess a little research won't activated the NetConsole in her booth and typed the key words 'Arasaka Corp' and 'DreadNought Prototype' into a Data SearchEngine which came back with 1,345,980 clicked on the first result and was taken to a Network News 54 page with a bold headline

'ARASAKA CORP UNLEASH NEW WEAPON'

Under this was a picture of what apeared to be a large sophisticated weapon in the middle of a speedreading through the writeup on the page,Kaena was able to learn that the Dreadnought was a bipedal walking tank that was first put to use during the South America Cyberwars and quickly gained a reputation as a harbinger of the end of the war,Arasaka Corp made a killing on sales for thier new weapon as it became a prize item for Military Goverments,Militia groups and generally all manner of individuals who instigate,love and profit from war.

Kaena closed the NetPage with a worried sigh,if there was anything the world didn't need more of it was weapons of logged out of the NetConsole and made her way back upstairs to T9's tech lab,tapping the access code into the door lock she strolled in to lab to meet T9 at his workstation.

"Here you go Darlin',all nice an' ready." T9 said handing over the package "I rigged it so that even a walking tinman like your partner can use the way,How is that chrome head doing?"

It was easy to tell from T9's attitude that he really had a thing for Gibson.

"He's just fine and by the way, he loves you too." Kaena replied smiling.

T9 responded by simply rolling his eyes in disgust and turning his attention to a gadget on his workstation.

"Hey T9 ,i wanna ask you somethin'.Have you heard anything about Arasaka Corp developing an upgrade to one of thier weapons? Something called the 'Dreadnought'?

T9 stopped fiddling with the gadget in his hands and his eyes suddenly had a faroff look in them but it only lasted for a few seconds.

"Nothing more than what you've probably heard already from your Netrunner , rumours but nothin' solid." T9 suddenly raised his eyes and fixed Kaena with a quizzical look "Why do you ask? You thinking of makin' a Run at Arasaka Corp?"

"No i'm 's just that i thought you might have heard somethin' solid from your old techie buddies."

T9's voice now had a rough edge to it "I'm an independent now Kaena,You know reason i left the MegaCorps is becuz i don't like 'em and i don't much hang out with folk that work with 'em."

Indeed, hence T9's somewhat tense relationship with Gibson,a MegaCorp decided to let it go at that,she had probed far enough for one day.

"Thanks again for the NetKit, i'll make the payment into your account as usual."

T9 tipped his baseball hat in salute "Glad i could help."

With the package tucked under one arm,Kaena was halfway out the door when T9's voice stopped her in midstep.

"Hey Ka' ,you know that ol' sayin' ,about people 'running on the edge'?"

Kaena still had her back to T9 and she didn't answer so he continued.

"The thing with people like that is sooner or later they either fall off or they get cut."

Kaena suddenly found her mind transported to a memory from long ago.A moment between a young apprentice and her 's reply came forth,not just from her mind but from the depth of her heart.

"I'm different from those 'people' T9. I'm not running on the edge..."

Kaena turned her head and locked eyes with T9 "i AM the edge."

Without waiting for a reply Kaena walked out the door with T9 watching her leave,the expression on his face was a mixture of worry and awe.

The sun was high in the sky now as Kaena made her way from T9's cafe to a hoverbus station to catch her ride home.

In her apartment ,Kaena laid out the package and ran a complete security scan on the NetKit for wasn't that she didn't trust T9,she did but crosschecking was something she did by force of habit.

"Check,Crosscheck then Triplecheck, Kiddo."

Another mantra handed down to her by Scan came up negative for Malware and Kaena finally stripped off her exercise gear then had a cold shower before cooking up a little lunch for herself.

With a full stomach, Kaena settled down in front of her flatscreen TV and browsed the channels.A music channel showed that the Rockerboy songs 'Chippin' In' and 'Never Fade Away' were still top of the charts,a second channel decried the rising crime rate in a notorious area of NightCity and the third was running a story on Zetatech Corp.

It seems investors in the company were on edge due to rumors of an alledged Cyberattack on the Global HQ of the company in NightCity that brought all it's activities to a grinding PR Officer had issued a statement refuting the allegations but the Corporations stock had plummeted to an all time low.

Kaena switched off the TV and walked over to reached for her alarm clock and adjusted the alarm for later in the evening when she would upgrade Gibsons NetWare before have a sparring session with Him.

The only thing that bothered her now was that Gibson had a habit of being made a mental note to herself to call Gibson and remind him of thier appointment then settled into bed for much needed rest,it was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Happy Hour

Downtown District,NightCity

2100 Hrs

NightCity is a dangerous place to begin with on most days during daylight hours but the more colourful characters usually come out after dark.

Most are non-threatning,trying to scratch a living from the bottom of the Citys scum filled Hustlers looking for an easy mark, Peddlers trying to fence illegal or stolen items, Hookers offering the pleasures of thier flesh in exchange for a fistfull of creds.

Then there are the more dangerous Black Market Dealers,Gangsters ,Assassins and Fullbody Cyborgs...like Sam.

Sam cruised the Mitsubishi through the freeway traffic with practised ease, the wind whipping through his snow white hair and biker nightride was a good idea after all,focusing his attention away from the doubts of his mind and giving him back a sense of balance...if only for a while.

Sam cut out of the freeway into the streets of downtown NightCity, the flickering neon lights from the street lamps along with the outdoor adverts cast a kaleidoscope of colour down on the adjacent buildings and pedestrians.

Sam brought the Mitsubishi to a stop beside what appeared to be an entertainment was confirmed when Sam raised his eyes and read the prominent signboard some distance above his head.

LUCKY DRAGON BAR

Happy Hour Night

'Sure ,why not? What have i got to lose?' Sam thought to himself.

He switched off the engine and dismounted in one smooth activating the Antitheft device on the bike,Sam walked up the outer steps of the Bar to the large size double doors and pushed them stepped into a short corridor leading to another set of double doors that would open to the Bar proper.

Sam paused at the faint sound of music and human activity from the other side could be heard.

'And what do we have behind door number one?'

Sam pushed to doors open and stepped music turned out to be a haunting melody in chinese mandarin spliced with heavily accented English and the human activity was a barfull of NightCitys Most Dangerous ; drinking ,dancing and gambling the night least that's what they were doing before he stepped in but now all activities had stopped and all eyes, sensors and scanning devices were on him.

It was a good bet that by now those scanning him had established two , that he was a Cyborg and Second ,that he was armed.

Silence...It was so thick you could cut it with a laser knife. It wasn't hard for Sam to guess what was going through their minds.

Friend or Foe?

Sam took measured steps towards the Bartender at the far end of the room, walking past the patrons on the expansive dancefloor who instinctively cleared a path for bartender was in front of him now, a tense look in his eyes that matched his body language.

Sam managed what he hoped was a friendly smile and said in a loud voice.

"I'll have a six pack of your best beer, ice cold please."

Sam watched the bartender release the breath of air he had been holding in and swallow nervously.

"Yes Sir,just a moment. "

Just like that, the tension in the air eased music started up again ,the patrons resumed thier dancing and the gamblers refocused on thier cards.

That's right folks ,nothing to see another barcrawler looking to drown his sorrows about your business and leave me to mine.

The bartender came back with the drinks and Sam paid him with a roll of credit a flick of his wrist,he opened the first beer can and chugged on the content with big no time Sam was on his fifth can of beer and was considering ordering another six pack when a distinct voice spoke to him.

"Welcome to my humble Entertainment centre, honorable is your first time here ,Yes?"

Sam regarded the man in front of him with weary was smallish in stature wearing a Mandarin gown with a golden dragon emblazoned on had slick black hair combed back,almond shaped intelligent eyes and small had noticed him earlier when he was ordering his beer,marking him out as a possible threat and covertly watching him while he drank his beer.

"Yeah,my first time is your joint you said?"

"Indeed honorable name is Mr Chan and you are most welcome to the Lucky Dragon Bar.I make it a duty to welcome all first time customers myself."

Yeah right or maybe you just wanna know if i'm another raving psychopath off the streets in which case you'll probably never let me set foot in here again.

"You are a man with great many worries?"

Mr Chan was talking again ,gesturing to the empty cans of beer by Sam's side.

"Same as everybody else in here."

Sam replied with a casual shrug

"Ahh...but what troubles you in particular tonight honorable sir."

'Oh, where to begin' Sam mused to himself.

"I'm a question without an answer. A ship without an anchor. A tree without roots."

Mr Chan's eyes watched Sam thoughtfully as he scratched his chin.

"Ahh...Most unfortunate honorable ago ,a wise man say 'if you don't know where you come from then you can't know where you are going'."

Sam's lips formed a melancholic ,that's me chaff in the wind.

"Wise man also say that journey of thousand miles begin with the first step."

Sam eyed Mr Chan quizzically

"Sorry, not planning on taking a long trip anytime soon."

Mr Chan gave Sam a knowing smile.

"All of life is a journey my has a beginning and it has an end."

Sam considered the words for a moment,staring at the beer can in his hand.

"What happens when the journey has no clear beginning and no clear end? What happens when you live your life from job to job,night after night?"

That had never been a problem in the old since the day(or night) Sam had opened his cybernetic eyes for the first time in the Hi-tech Arasaka Lab where he was made(or remade),He had been told in very clear terms that he was now the 'property' of Arasaka had even drawn up a Contract which pretty much said so in black and white.

'You owe us a debt of Honor,Sam Gibson' The Arasaka Official had said 'We trust that you will repay us by serving us efficiently and with excellence.'

Funny thing is after all these years ,my 'debt' to Arasaka Corp never seems to get the old days Sam had never mulled over his existence, He had embraced his new form and function Gibson ,MegaCorp Soldier, Solo of Fortune.

Sam would take on the Hardest jobs,the ones with the highest risk of failure and he would succeed again and short time, his name became legend in the shadowy backstreets of NightCity,Sam is the number one Solo and everyone in the streets knew a Solo wasn't just a job now to Sam,it defined him and he had not asked for anything more... until the dreams started.

Now Sam found himself haunted with doubts and distractions he could not afford to have.

Sam chugged down the rest of his beer and pushed the empty can aside with the was one of those few times that Sam wished he could get drunk but thanks to his cybernetic body which would break down the alcoholic beverage into its constituent parts three times faster than any normal human body, he wouldn't even have the pleasure of a Hangover.

"It is as i said before sir ,to have any hope of predicting the end of your journey you must first know your beginning."

Mr Chan was still regarding Sam with thoughtful eyes.

"To try to live any kind of life otherwise is simply foolish."

Sam was taking time to digest the words honest truth Sam saw the wisdom of Mr Chan's his dreams were a result of 'unfinished business' from his past then it only made sense that the best course of action would be to identify the conflict and resolve it once and for all.

"You've given me quite a bit to think about Mr Chan, thanks for the pep talk."

Sam raised his eyes to look Mr Chan in the face but Mr Chan's eyes were looking past him,at something or someone behind him.

Sam suddenly became alert to his enviroment at music had stopped again and a hushed silence had descended on the bar,just like before when Sam first stepped in.

Shit ! I got so wrapped up in my thoughts that i let my gaurd down in a barfull of NightCity's most careless could i get?

Sam realised he would have to berate himself later as a huge figure blocked out the light and cast an ominous shadow over him.

"Gibson! Sam Gibson!"

The voice was guttural,filled with loathing and was a voice that Sam recognized all the same from that incident two years about your past coming back to haunt you.

Sam was standing now and slowly turned around to face his antagonist.

"Hah! I knew it.I knew it was you.I'd recognize that face anywhere.I really hope you enjoyed your beer asshole cuz it'll be your last. I'M GONNA KILL YOU ! "

And just like that,Sam's night had gone from confused to depressed to mortally dangerous in quick a certainty that came from many years as a Solo, Sam knew immediately he looked at the towering mass of hatred before him that the night would end in bloodshed.

Only one of them would walk out of the Lucky Dragon Bar alive.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
Showdown at the Lucky Dragon Bar

Downtown District,NightCity  
2130 Hrs

Zeo Getz a.k.a ZeoJack is a nasty peice of work Sam first had the displeasure of meeting two years ago during a very diabolical incident between Solo's and Netrunners that also happend to be the first time that Kaena and Sam first met and worked together.

If you know anything at all about Solo's and Netrunners then you would know that on an average day ,they don't get along with each other but on this ocassion Kaena and Sam combined thier skills to survive a bloodbath that left a lot of Netrunners and quite a few Solo's dead.

One person though wasn't much of a team player, can you guess who it was? That's right,ZeoJack confirmed that night what most people on the streets already didn't so much kill because he had been ordered to do so or to save his own killed because he just liked killing.

It didn't matter to him that they had survived the incident,four of them;Sam,Zeo,Kaena and her best has an insatiable bloodlust and he wasn't satisfied just attacked and brutally murdered Kaena's best friend and was about to give Kaena the same treatment when Sam showed up and took him down...Hard.

Sam rushed Kaena away from the scene for emergency medical treatment and left ZeoJack behind for NightCity's Police was critical for a while but she pulled through and the last Sam heard of ZeoJack he was being held in NightCity maximum security for every crime the boys in blue could think of to charge him with.

Now two years down the line someway,somehow this psychopath killer is back on the streets and by bizarre twist of fate they've run into each other again,here in the Lucky Dragon Bar.

Cue Lights,Camera,Action !

"Hey there Zeo,Long time no see."  
Sam said in an almost lazy drawl that belied his internal body mechanisms preparing him for the battle that he knew was sure to come.

"Long time no see?! Yeah,it will be even longer after i put your ass in the ground six feet under! "

As Sam already suspected,talking his way out of this situation was not an option but he had been hoping to avoid collateral damage from a gunfight in a crowded bar.  
The attention of all patrons of the bar was on them now ,bits and peices of words reached Sams sensitive audio receptors

'he call that guy Sam Gibson? THE Sam Gibson?'

'heard he was taller'

'he's the one who took down the GameMaster '

'think Zeo can take him?'

'don't look like much of a number one Solo to me.'

Sheesh! Sam was seriously reconsidering his stance on collateral damage when Mr Chan spoke up.

"Honorable Sirs! Please! Let us settle your dispute without violence.I am sure there is a way..."

ZeoJacks response was swift and it took was one step for him to cover the distance between them and deliver a crushing punch to Mr Chans force of the blow sent Mr Chan backwards into a pile of trays and bottles with a loud poured profusely from Mr Chans broken nose as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he lost conciousness.

"Shut the hell up you gook! Me an' this asshole ova here have unfinished bizness!"

Despite himself Sam tried again to reason with Zeo.

"It doesn't have to end badly for you Zeo, just let this go and walk away."

Zeo turned his attention back to Sam.

"No more stallin' asshole,lets get this over ah Manno , Hand to Hand"

Zeo gave Sam a sadistic smile as the words 'Hand to Hand' left his lips for obvious standing at 6'5" and weighing in at 350lbs had a body that was made for suspected that he was armed but yet he had pushed for a fistfight.

Was it simply his desire to beat Sam to a bloody pulp or a tactical decision to put Sam on the defensive? Among the denizens of the streets in NightCity, a hierarchy was established where those at the bottom feared and sometimes grudgingly respected those ranked above to keep pointless bloodshed to a resonable minimum and over the years Sam had risen to the top of the heap by way of his reputation as an elite MegaCorp Soldier and Mercenary for hire.

If Sam refused Zeo's challenge to a fistfight and used his twin Arasaka Special Pistols instead he would settle this battle quickly enough but then the word would go out on NightCity streets that Sam had gone soft,that he didn't have the skills anymore.

It would be be like blood in the water,the sharks would start two-bit thug with an itchy trigger finger would challenge him every time he showed his face among a group of Solo's and as much as Sam believed in his combat skills it would be foolish of him to think that it was immpossible that one of these thugs might get lucky and take him down permanently.  
No...Sam would accept Zeo's challenge and make an example of him to all others watching and those who would hear of this encounter by word of mouth.

With the decision made in his mind, Sam's voice took on a cold edge.

"Fine...Let's get this over with!"

And so it began, both men with thier eyes closely watching each other moved towards the expansive, circular dance floor and took up positions on opposite Bar Patrons had formed a wide circle around the makeshift arena,their various faces a mixture of tension,anticipation and bloodlust.

Sam assumed a combat stance,balancing most of his wieght on his right leg and leading with his left had also balanced most of his weight on his right leg but had spread out his muscular arms to either side of his body,his fingers twitching eagerly in anticipation of grabbing Sam.

One of the male Patrons apparently getting into the spirit of the deathmatch about to take place took on the role of fight announcer.

"Alllriiight ! Are we ready to ruuumble? Gentlemen,let's get it started on the count of !...Two! ..."

You could say that ZeoJack is not the most patient man in the world or that he simply doesn't know how to count,either way he didn't wait until the count of exploded out of his corner aiming a powerful right punch squarely at Sam's head but Sam had seen the speed at which Zeo's punch knocked out Mr Chan and his reflexes saved him.

Sam dodged the attack moving down low and to his right,twisting out of Zeo's momentum from the punch left Zeo wide open and before he could recover his balance Sam's right fist was a blur landing squarely on Zeo's sound of the impact was like a rawhide whip on soft flesh, it made the crowded bar respond with a collective 'Oooohhh'.

ZeoJack recovered himself and gave Sam a murderous glare.  
"That the best you've got asshole? you're dead meat!"

Sam didn't bother to reply,the time for talking was over.

Zeo closed the distance between himself and Sam again but this time a bit more tracked his movements and waited for an feinted a punch to the left and when Sam moved to evade Zeo's right hand reached out to grab.  
Sam saw this coming and made his grabbed Zeo's right arm and kicked the shin of his leg to break his balance while in a fluid motion began twisting Zeo's right arm behind his back as Zeo's own momentum propelled him forward.

By rights, Zeo should have face planted on the dancefloor with Sam having the advantage of an arm lock in place as well as his weight on the small of Zeo's back almost certainly bringing the fight to an abrupt end but things didn't quite play out that way.

In an incredible display of physical strength and agility, Zeo tucked his body into a forward roll and taking the brunt of his full body weight on his left arm sprang forward back onto his feet,twisting out of the armlock Sam meant to place on singular maneuver had also accomplished something else, it reversed the tide of the battle as it was now Zeo who had a firm grip on Sam's arm.

Zeo pressed his advantage, pulling Sam in close and off balance with his right arm before aiming another powerful punch at Sam's head with his the first attempt Sam was not able to dodge this was a sickening thud as Zeo's fist connected with Sam's face making his head snap backwards.

In the old days of competitive boxing, fighters who had been on the recieving end of a vicious punch to the head describe the after effect commonly as 'seeing stars in front of my eyes'.In Sam's case however the immediate result was that his E-brain heads-up display(HUD) snapped into focus and his vision was littered with flashing red warning icons

[WARNING! damage to cranial section]

[WARNING! recaliberating cyberoptics]

Sam minimized the icons on his E-brain HUD and tried to recover his balance but a second vicious punch from Zeo brought more warning icons to his was stunned now and Zeo could see it,the roar of the crowd only served to amplify his bloodlust.

How many times in maximum security lockdown had Zeo imagined this moment and now he would finally finish it. Zeo closed in on Sam and locked him into a titanic bear hug, the huge muscles of his upper body straining with the effort.

"I gottcha now asshole! You're dead meat!"

Sam barely registered the words, new warning icons were popping up on his HUD.

[WARNING! external pressure on Spinal section]

[WARNING! functional integrity will be compromised]

Sam was lifted of the floor with Zeo's massive arms locked in across the small of his was literally trying to break Sam in half unless Sam could stop him one vulnerable spot was open for Sam to attack and he didn't hesitate to exploit it.  
With his left hand Sam grabbed a fistfull of Zeo's hair and yanked it backwards with all his might while cocking his right arm ready to pain of having his hair pulled back so suddenly caused Zeo to raise his head out of its protective position and glare at Sam hatefully.  
That was all the chance that Sam opened two fingers of his right hand into a 'v for victory' sign and plunged both fingers deep into the soft tissue of Zeo's two eyes,effectively crushing them.

Zeo let go of Sam and screamed in pure agony,bringing his hands to his face as a mix of blood and optic fluid streamed out of his ruined landed on his feet,centered himself then delivered a frightening kick to Zeo's right knee.A crunching pop confirmed that Zeo's right knee was broken and unable to hold his weight.

Zeo dropped to his left knee,his right hand leaving his face to grip the new source of agony as he now grappled with the pain from two major injuries but Sam was still in motion and powerfull left hook connected with Zeo's jaw producing a spray of blood as his head snapped back.  
When Zeo's face came back into Sam's line of sight it was covered in blood and gore with his jaw set at a wrong looked like he was going to topple over any second but Sam decided to speed up the process with a kick to Zeo's chest which put him flat on his back with a loud thud.

The crowd had gone silent as Zeo hit the floor unmoving,the only sign of life was his laboured breathing and gobs of blood he was coughing walked over and stood close to Zeo's fallen bulk, speaking to him in a loud voice for the crowd to hear.

"I told you it didn't have to end badly for you Zeo. I told you to walk away."

Zeo's mouth was moving ,trying to form words past his coughing.

"Hrrk!...go..to...hell...asssole...Hurrk!"

Without even thinking, Sam's twin Arasaka Pistols were out of thier holsters and in his had challenged Sam to a deathmatch and there was only one way for a deathmatch to truly end. Sam thought about Zeo's last jibe then pointed his pistols at Zeo's chest where his heart would be and with an ice cold tone in his voice replied Zeo with three words.

"You first,asshole!"

Sam squeezed the triggers down on both pistols and the repeated boom of the bullets thumping into Zeo's body filled the Arasaka Special Pistol is configured to fire continuously as long as the trigger is depressed and each pistol holds a total of 10 bullets.

Sam didn't release the triggers until both pistols clicked empty.

Before the echo of the last gunshot even died down ,Sam had already reloaded both pistols and holstered them casually took a few steps away from Zeo's corpse and looked at the crowd across the had accepted Zeo's challenge to send a simple message to the streets of NightCity summarized as follows.

'My name is Sam Gibson.I'm the number one Solo and the most dangerous sonuvabitch walking the streets of this 't mess with me'

Using his cyberoptics, Sam zoomed in on the faces of several of the 'toughguys' in the a single one of them was looking him in the eye.

Message recieved.

Sam walked back towards the bartenders table and was pleased to see Mr Chan had been revived but was now sporting a medical patch over his broken reached into his jacket and took out a roll of credit notes,pushing it across the table to Mr Chan who eyed the money and then Sam quizzically.

"To pay for the damages."  
Sam said by way of explanation.

A look of suprise crossed Mr Chan's face then a faint smile followed by a nod of acknowledgement.

Sam turned on his heel heading for the ! They had only just met but he kinda liked Mr Chan but after this little episode he would never be able to come here again for a waste.  
Sam had almost reached the door when Mr Chan's voice stopped him short.

"Mr Gibson! One last peice of advice for you."

Sam stopped and looked over his shoulder to Mr Chan ,wondering what new pearl of wisdom he might recieve now.

"Mr Gibson,wise man say 'Let one walk alone commiting no sin,with few wishes ,like an elephant in the forest'."

Sam honestly couldn't say he understood what that was supposed to mean right away but he acknowledged it with a faint smile and a nod of his nothing left to say Sam walked out of the Lucky Dragon Bar into the street towards the Mitsubishi.

Sam mounted the bike and paused for a minute to review the damage as indicated by the icons that were still blinking on his E-brain experience Sam could tell that it wasn't anything that a MediKit wouldn't was about to put switch back to regular cyberoptics when he took note of the time displayed on the digital watch of the HUD.

"Shit! I'm late again! Kaena is gonna be pissed!"

The Mitsubishi came to life again as Sam revved the engine and zoomed off down the street to rejoin the freeway and speed towards Kaena's apartment.

Meanwhile back in the Lucky Dragon Bar shortly after Sam had left, the customers had started leaving en spared a moment to look over at Zeo's bloodied corpse but most were too much in a hurry to little time the Bar was empty except for the employees of the Bar and Mr Chan himself.

While the employees busied themselves with cleaning up the tables Mr Chan walked over to Zeo's corpse and stood over what had happened between them Mr Chan held no grudge against Zeo but rather felt sorry for a man who had obviously made a lot of wrong choices in his infamous life and had ultimately met a bloody end like so many others before him who followed that path.

Mr Chan slipped his hand into his gown and produced two silver coins which he placed reverently over each of Zeo's eyes.

"The ferryman's payment ,for your passage across the river Acheron."

With this solemn task done, Mr Chan retreated to his office, picked up his phone and dialled the emergency number for the NightCity Police Department.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
Memories, Sweet Memories

Downtown District, Kaena's Apartment  
2200 Hrs

"On your feet!"

He opened his eyes and blinked severally.

"I said on your feet, Soldier!"  
The voice boomed in his ears again with more authority and disdain.

The world around him was coming back into focus as he struggled to make his legs obey his mental the soldier got back on his feet and look into the hardened face of his superior officer.

"Pathetic! I've seen some raw recruits in my day but as far as being useless goes, you win the prize for the worst of the worst!"

The biting words wounded the soldiers pride but he had enough sense not to reply.

"It's been the same thing ever since this damn war month the head honcho's send me a bus load of you newbie's and they give me one month, ONE FRICKING MONTH! To turn you boys into bad ass jungle warfare experts!"

At this point the Officer glanced away from him towards the other recruits watching from a safe distance and then back again.

"If you clowns wanna last more than 60 secs in the front line ,you'd better get your heads into this training! Now assume the combat stance, bring your senses to bear on the battlefield and on your Soldier!"

"OK ,I'm done now."

"Focus.."

"Gibson?"

"Focus"

"Gibson!"

Sam startled and looked around himself abruptly,the world around him came back into focus as his mind played catch up. Despite his best efforts Sam had arrived late to Kaena's apartment and she was less than pleased with him.  
Then she had looked him over from head to toe and raised an inquisitive had shrugged almost nonchalantly and said

"I got into it with a big,stupid tough guy. It didn't end well...for him."

Kaena then promptly made Sam sit down and attended to his wounds with a was grateful to have all the red warning icons on his E-brain HUD reduced to a single all systems normal green had offered to fulfill his promise of a sparring session with Kaena but she had bluntly refused, she didn't want to make Sam engage in a sparring match so soon after he had engaged in a Death Match.

Kaena had opted instead to follow through on her other agenda for the night with Sam,upgrading his had just finished the upgrade when she noticed Sam's vacant stare.

"Are you allright Gibson? You totally spaced out."

'Yeah, never felt better'  
That's what he was going to say,probably what he should have said but he didn't say it, couldn't say it.

"No Kaena, i'm not allright."

Then finally ,after all this time of keeping her in the dark, Sam told Kaena dreams,his worries,the soldier in the mirror, right up to his latest space listened with rapt attention to every word before she gave her reply

"You know,after we became partners and you told me about your amnesia problem, i poked around on the are cases were amnesiacs experience total recall but over an extended period of time, kinda like your brain trying to reboot itself."

Sam mulled over what Kaena had just said for a minute.  
"My memories are like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle and not all the peices fit least not the way i think they should."

"This is all speculation for the most part,the best way to know anything for sure would be to let a Techie look you over."

Sam knew where Kaena was going with that reasoning and beat her to the punch.  
"You want me to let T9 poke around in my brain?!"

Sam visibly bristled at the wasn't that he thought T9 was a bad guy, Yeah he was a grumpy old goat to be sure but still one of the 'good guys'.It was just that allowing anyone apart from Kaena to access his brain produced a reflex defensive response from him.

Kaena left her position at the computer terminal and stood in front of Sam,hands on her hips.

"T9 is the best techie in NightCity who's not on a MegaCorp payroll and i trust him completely."

Sam didn't reply,his head was hanging dejectedly off his shoulders so Kaena placed her hands on either side of his head and raised it until they both made eye contact.

"And you know that means you can trust him too , right?"

Sam decided not to contest that had proved her loyalty to him more times than he cared to remember,if she even had the slightest doubts about T9 she would not have made the suggestion.

"OK ,you win. I'll let T9 see what he can do."

Kaena favored him with a warm smile.  
"Just so you know,thanks for being upfront with me about honesty means a lot to me."

"Uhm...Kaena,there's one other big,stupid tough guy i mentioned earlier, it was was ZeoJack."

Kaena liked to pride herself on being able to adapt quickly to unforeseen circumstances,to roll with the hits ,just the way Spider taught her but the mention of that name brought back a lot of painful memories.  
The deadly events from two years ago which saw Kaena and her best friend Nina, caught up in the sadistic games of 'The Game Master. The terrifying struggle to survive,joining up with Sam and ZeoJack to surmount the last obstacle, ZeoJack's insane bloodlust and murder of Nina, ZeoJack's hands squeezing around her throat as she lost consciousness, waking up in the ICU with Sam at her side telling her she was gonna be OK.

Kaena didn't feel OK. The doctors had saved her life but the damage from almost having her throat crushed had given her voice a husky inflection, her best friend was in a Morgue and the bastard resposible was cooling his heels in NightCity PD's maximum lock Sam's help,Kaena had laid Nina to rest and forged ahead with her had not seen or heard anything about ZeoJack again...until tonight.

Keana struggled to keep her voice steady  
"So...he's back on the streets then?"

Now it was Sam's turn to cup Kaena's face with both hands and make deliberate eye contact.

"Not 's not in any condition to hurt you or anyone else for that matter ever me."

Sam flashed her a knowing smile and Kaena relaxed again.

"Ok...uhm...how about we give your new upgrade a tryout?"

Sam's E-brain HUD had a single green icon blinking at a he activated it a horizontal scrolling text told him that his Net-ware program had been upgraded to Netware 2.0 and it was ready access the Net. Sam and kaena cruised the Net for a while until Kaena was satisfied with Sam's new skill level.

After leaving Net-space ,Sam decides to ask Kaena about Mr Chan's parting advice.

"Hey Kaena, i need to ask you about owner of the bar gave me advice that doesn't really make sense to me right now."

Kaena was intrigued.  
"So ,what did he say?"

Sam repeated Mr Chan's cryptic words to Kaena who paused for a moment of thought then replied.

"It's a paraphrased quote from a Buddhist full verse says 'It is better to live alone, there is no companionship with a fool, let a man walk alone, let him commit no sin, with few wishes ,like an elephant in the forest'."

Sam wrinkled his brow.  
"Uhhh...yeah, but what does it mean?"

"Well,It just means..."  
Kaena stopped mid-sentence and gave Sam a mischievous look.  
"You know what? It's actually better if you figure it out on your own."

Sam was just about to throw a major tantrum when a beeping alarm tone from Kaena's computer grabbed their walked back over to computer with Sam right behind her to view a new message received icon glowing on her screen.

"Looks like we got mail in the drop box Sam, lets see who it is."

A few clicks later and the message text was displayed on the computer screen.

To: Sam_Gib  
From: Mr Smith  
Title: A New Package

Sam, kindly call the office ASAP. We have a New Package that requires your immediate attention. Standard protocols apply.

END MESSAGE.

It only took several seconds for Sam to read the message and process the hidden information within it.

'Mr Smith' was the name of his Covert Ops handler for Arasaka Corp. A New Package meant that a new mission was waiting for him and Standard protocols meant Sam was to proceed immediately to a pre-arranged location for briefing on his mission after which he was expected to follow his mission parameters to a logical conclusion.

Sam's personal problems were gonna have to take a back seat for now.

It was time to go to work.

A short while later ,Sam arrived some distance from the pre-arranged location on the Mitsubishi. He stashed the bike in a darkened alley and went the rest of the way on foot, making very sure he wasn't being followed until he arrived at 'The Office'.

From the outside 'The Office' was nothing remarkable but the inside was another matter. Moving through an array of security cameras and robot guards, Sam finally entered a soundproof room where he stood in front of an executive desk with a man seated behind it.

'Sam, you're .'

Mr Smith was a well built man with short cropped black hair,a rugged face and eyes as black as per his usual habit, Mr Smith was dressed in a crisp black suit which almost rendered him invisible in the shadowy room.  
Mr Smith long before he was Sam's handler had a reputation as Night City's most renowned 'Fixer'. He was a ruthless deal maker, smuggler and information broker.

These sterling qualities had caught the attention of Arasaka Corp and they had approached him with an offer he couldn't refuse...literally.

After Sam had been commissioned as a covert asset for Arasaka Corp ,Mr Smith was his only link to his nefarious task masters and their relationship was mostly was with this attitude that Sam responded to Mr Smith.

"Tell me...about this mission."

Mr Smith regarded Sam coolly for a moment then moved his hand over the keyboard of his computer and tapped on several keys in quick the roof,quiet as a whisper, a media sphere descended to a height just above their was a quick flicker of light and then a series of three dimensional holograms appeared in the space between Sam and Mr Smith as he began the mission briefing.

"Approximately two hours ago, the Internal Security Division (ISD) of Arasaka Corp HQ in NightCity became aware of an electronic breach into their classified Data Servers.  
The ISD started a trace and were shocked when they realized that the TunnelWorm program used to effect the theft was introduced from within Araska Corp HQ."

Sam's brow furrowed  
"The Hacker is an employee of Arasaka Corp?!"

The hologram between them flickered and a mans face appeared along with scrolling text showing detailed bio-info.

"The ISD conducted a sweep of the facility and identified this man as the name is Hiro Nagayama, a senior Data today his record with Arasaka Corp was spotless but after this incident we must assume that a rival Corp has somehow turned him."

"Why don't the ISD just detain him for questioning and get thier answers?"

"That would have been standard procedure but the head honcho wants to know for certain who is pulling Nagayama's strings and in line with that ,the ISD inserted a Tracker program into the Data that Nagayama stole."

Mr Smith placed a rectangular object on the table and motioned for Sam to pick it up.

"That's a Tracking Module, it will lead you to the current location of the stolen have reason to believe that he will try to pass the Data across to his Controller mission is to track down Nagayama,secure the stolen Data and identify his Controller."

"Understood."

The holograms winked out and the media sphere disappeared back into the roof.

"Any secondary objectives will be communicated to you as necessary."

"Yeah, sure."

The briefing was over and Sam turned on his heel towards the door but Mr Smith's voice stopped him just at the precipice.

"Good luck Sam."

Sam was pragmatic in his reply  
"I don't depend on luck to complete my missions, Smith...but thanks anyway."

With that said ,Sam left The Office and walked out into the cold darkness of NightCity.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dead men don't dance.

Residential District,  
2245 Hrs

NightCity came to prominence in American history sometime after the socio-economic collapse of the old millenium.A depressed economy, spiralling crime rates and rampant corruption meant that America was reduced to shadow of her former self.

Some would even argue that the upheaval only removed the thin veneer of self deciet that American's had held on to for so long and let us see ourselves as we really were for the first time.

Not a pretty picture.

Then the Corporations stepped to turn things around, get us back on our , Stronger...for a price.  
And so it take overs,concessions ,radical changes in national policy and so much more until our democracy become for the most part a puppet regime and the Corporations became the dominant force on our national landscape.

Arasaka Corp being a forerunner in this endevour having pacified the local territory proceeded to bring in 'Homegrown' assets, people like Hiro Nagayama. The BioData that Sam had downloaded during his breifing showed that Hiro was the only offspring of the late Takero Nagayama who was also a longtime employee of Arasaka Corp in Japan until his had been drafted to the new branch in NightCity America, with his wife in tow ,Hiro had accepted the posting in keeping with family tradition and Honor.

Over time Hiro had worked his way up the ranks from Executive Trainee to Senior Data Manager at Arasaka Corp HQ NightCity but for some as yet unknown reason less than three hours ago Hiro Nagayama had switched his allegiance to another Corp.

'Guess walking the straight and narrow got too hard for him' Sam mused to himself as he watched Hiro from his hiding spot across his residential flat.  
Sam had a clear view of him by way of thermal imaging inside his apartment, the tracking module also confirmed the presence of the stolen data on the portable workstation beside him.

Sam activated his E-brain HUD and opened a Com' link

'Kaena,can you hear me?'

'I'm right here Sam, the signal is still good so far but the quality will begin to drop if you move much further out from your present location.'

'Are you monitoring his cell comms and his residential data flow both incoming and outgoing?'

'I'm on top of it Sam,but are we really expecting a guy who just pulled off a major Data heist, from Arasaka Corp no less, to be contacted by his controller over an open Comm line?'

No...not really but it doesn't hurt to have our bases covered

'It makes sense that he woulld be be waiting for some sort of pre-arranged signal telling him what to do will be something subtle, possibly something innocent.'

Sam refocused his attention on Nagayama's heat signature, the details of Nagayama's flat,the immediate souroundings of the building. taking in information both visual and audio, his E-brain sifting and sorting, looking for that one thing that was out of place.

Sudenly Nagayama's body language changed and he started to move,grabbing the workstation and heading towards the door.

'Kaena, Nagayama's on the move. I'm gonna tail him.'

'Roger that Sam, be careful.'

Nagayama's was at street level now, walking briskly and Sam had a visual lock on him  
.Sam tailed Nagayama from the rooftops ,his Hydraulic implants allowing him to vault over the yawning chasm between buildings with continued for a short while until Nagayama passed a back alley to a shadowy corner and disappeared.

Sam dropped down from the Roofs and activated Thermal 's heat signature was faint but Sam could see it and the entrance to a sub level basement.

'Kaena,can you hear me?'

'Sannrrzt...therxxzt...plessezzx...responnzzt'

'Shit! I'm out of range, guess i'm on my own for now.'

Sam moved over to the entrance and pushed it open ,following the faint heat signature, tracking Nagayama's thermal footprints the way a hunter would stalk a deer in the forest.

Sam's audio receptors detected a voice, Nagayama's voice and he seemed to be in a conversation with somebody.

'Look's like it's about to go down, i'd better get closer.'

The twin Arasaka Special Pistols were in his hands and at the ready position as Sam moved ever closer to lighted area and Nagayama.

'...done what you asked me to without question and against my better judgement ,now i want what you promised! '

Sam was much closer now, close enough to confirm a visual on Nagayama and a hooded figure.

'What!? No!...NOOO! '

That was definitely terror in Nagayama's voice and Sam saw the reason hooded figure had something in his hand, not a gun but a Sword ,it's razor sharp edge glinting in the light.

'Nooo..Uww-arrkk! '

What happened next took only seconds and Sam's CyberOptics could barely just keep up. Hiro Nagayama upon seeing the weapon in the hooded figure's hand realized that he had been betrayed and turned to run for his hooded figure raised the sword into a two handed grip ,took a well placed step forward and with one swordstroke ,damn near cut Nagayama in half from his right collar bone diagonally down to his mid-section.

Nagayama was dead long before his body crumpled to the floor in a bloody was a hissing sound emanating from the Sword and when Sam zoomed in it turned out to be Nagayama's blood evaporating from the Sword blade.

'Bloody Hell! A Lazer Edged sword!'

Sam had read a report once on how Lazer edged weapons with enough Lazer edge and physical force behind it could cut through even Titanium steel. Flesh and blood Nagayama didn't stand a chance in hell.

The hooded figure steped to Nagayama's body and checked for a pulse.

'Well,you're an efficient bastard aren't you? Okay...fun time is over'

The Assassins pulled back his hood and Sam had a good look at his face. He was an asian man, japanese if Sam had to eyes were covered by tinted wrap around body language suggested a man who was quick on his feet and from what Sam had just seen, well versed in the use of a Lazer Katana. He had turned his attention from Nagayama's corpse to the portable workstation when Sam stepped out of the shadows.

'That's far enough pal, drop your weapon and get on your knees!'

The Assassin was startled by Sam's sudden appearance and turned to face him, sword still in hand.

'Drop the weapon! Get on your knees...NOW!'

The Assassin never said a word but Sam could read his body language. The tensing of major muscle groups, the tightened grip on the sword guy wasn't even remotely thinking of surrender...he was going to fight.

'Oh...Shit!'

The Assassin moved, quick on his feet just as Sam anticipated and Sam pulled the triggers but something very strange happened. The Assassin vanished right before Sam's eyes, the bullets from the Arasaka pistols punched throught the air where the Assassins had been ,burying themselves in the wall at the far end of the room.

'What the hell!? Where did he go-ARRRRKK!'

The pain was excruciating, Sam's E-brain HUD snapped into view with warning icons telling him his cyborg chasis had taken damage to the posterior armor mesh embedded into Sam's biker jacket had taken most of the damage but there was no doubt in Sam's mind that the armor would not protect him from another direct hit.

'He got behind me!?'

Sam was in motion twisting his body away from the sneak attack,looking for a target to lock-on to. The Assassin was there with the Lazer katana raised high above his head, it was the same posture he used before cutting down Nagayama and now he's looking to do the same to Sam.

Two slugs from the pistols again punched throught the air towards the Assassin but again hit nothing but air.  
'Shit! He's gone again! Where did he...'

One could argue that it was Sam's instinct as a War Veteran that saved his life and others would put it down to the cutting edge Relflexes Booster Implant from Arasaka would rather say it was a combination of both.  
Battle instinct told Sam that the Assassin was using some sort of Matter Transmitter tech to move his body from point A to point B in the blink of an eye and secondly, The Assassin had shown a preference for attacking from Sam's blind spot behind him.

With these facts firmly established, his E-brain kicked the Reflex Booster Implant into overdrive.

The Assassins sword was already in full swing as he 'Teleported' behind Sam to deliver the killing blow but this time it was the Assassins who was left suprised as his Katana cut throught the air to strike the spot where Sam had been nanoseconds ago.

The Assassin lost precious time trying to free his katana embedded deep into the concrete floor,by the time he did so it was already too late.

'Tag Asshole! You're it!'

Multiple bullets from the Arasaka Special tore into the Assassins tissue, piercing major organs in a brutal symphony of blood and noise that drowned out the Assassins death howl.  
The Assassins body hit the floor with a wet thud, shuddered for a few seconds then became still.

With Nagayama dead Sam had hoped to bring the Assassin in for questioning but that hadn't played out as planned.

'Ok...go with Plan-B, search the corpse for clues on his identity or employer.'

Sam was a few steps away from the corpse when it flickered and then vanished from sight.

'Well sonuva...Must be some sort of failsafe, linked to the Assassins lifesigns and triggered upon !...now i don't even have a corpse to search!'

Luckily for Sam, the failsafe tech in the Assassins body did not apply to his Lazer Katana which was still lying on the floor.  
Sam picked up the weapon and examined was a Dragon logo emblazoned on a jade stone set in the hilt.

'The Jade Dragons, Japanese Yakuza.'

This Logo...it meant something deeper to Sam...but what?

Sam would not have the time to ponder the question as the silence was broken by Police Sirens.

'All that gunfire got someone's attention and they called the Cops,time for me to leave!'

Sam moved fast,grabbing the Portable Workstation, making his way back to the exit and into the Sirens were even louder now, the cops were channeled power to his Hydraulic Implants and vaulted himself into air to grab a ledge above his repeated the action again to reach a nearby rooftop.

Not a moment too soon, the Police transports screeched to a halt at the alleyway and heavily armored units spilled out of them to secure the area. Sam didn't hang around to chat, he was on the Hydraulic Implants propelled Sam from rooftop to rooftop until he was well clear of the crime scene.

"Kaena...are you there? Respond."

"Sam! You had me worried! What happened?"

"Followed Nagayama to his meeting spot but then things went south.I recovered the Data but i got damaged again in a fight,it's fairly bad so you'll need to break out the MediKit for me."

The silence on Kaena's end of the line spoke volumes.

"Relax Kaena, it's Ok, i'll live to dance another day ,which is more than anybody can say for Hiro Nagayama right now."

"Why is that?" Kaena asked.

"Because dead men don't dance."


End file.
